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| vanilla sugar |
Instead of buying ready-made vanilla sugar, make your own. It is very simple. Often this is sold with a premium markup. Many of the supermarkets sell their own brand vanilla sugar, at about 4 quid for 300g. For that price, you can make your own. And since vanilla pods stay fragrant for years, this is the kitchen tip that keeps on giving!
Vanilla sugar is often used in European cooking, particularly German and Scandanavian. It is perfect in cakes, pies, icecream or custard. In fact most things that you would normally put sugar into. It is great in coffee and fabulous in hot chocolate but whatever you do, not in tea. (Oh lord, you are not one of those people who puts sugar in their tea, are you?)
At the risk of sounding a bit Viz "Top Tips", I have decided to add the odd post about favourite tips and tricks that I have learnt in over 20 years of cooking. I like the idea of being a repository for lost knowledge . . . the sort of things our grandmothers knew but have fallen out of fashion or perhaps a few tips that need to be updated for the 21st century.
